Wind motor



Nov. 18, 1947. R, DU BRlE 2,431,111

WIND MOTOR Filed Dec. 16'. 1943 Patented Nov. 18, 1947 UNITED STATES .PATENT OFFICE WIND MOTOR Stanley R. Du Brie, Detroit, Mich.

Application December 16, 1943, SeralNo. 514,569

This invention relates -to wind motors the object being to provide a newand improved appafratus actuatable by wind current 'to operate mechanism connected with a powerzoutput shaft.

The principal feature `andobject of the `invention is to provide va power apparatus comprising a series of Wind wheels each comprising a series of vanes and mounted to rotate on a common Vertical axis and mechanism associated therewith whereby one or more than one of the .wind wheels may be caused to do effective work as vfor ,instance to drive an electric generator or other vapparatus as hereinafter described.

The arrangement of the vanes of the successive .wheels is such that the vanes of an upper wind wheel of a series are out of vertical alignment with aa lower wheel and thus, by use of two or more wheels in vertical alignment, when the vane of one wheel is vpassing out of influence by the -wind stream, the vane of ra,succeedingwhc-:el is 'Y in position to receive ,the full force of the wind. The result ofsuoh arrangement is that aconstant torque is maintained on the shaft.

These and various other objects and features of the invention -are hereinafter more fully described and vclaimed and the preferred form of wind motor embodying my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in'which-- Fig. l is an elevation showing my improved Wind 'motor'.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale having the generator driving mechanism.

The wind motor .comprises a vertical framework l Aof a triangular form as will beunderstood vanes 8 of :each wind wheel extend practically tangentially from the respective disc A9 and .are :attached -to the shaft 'l and are curved .at the free edges as indicated at It. Therefore air striking Ya vane may flow out of the vane at yits ,inner Iedge to strike the vane on the opposite side of the shaft. Thus the force of the air stream is applied not only to the vanes on the windwardside but flows across and in a direction to impinge upon a, blade on the leeward side of each ofthe wheels and, depending upon the .-55

vf .n power output required, two or more than two :wind wheels :maybe utilized.

In the drawing I have indicated `an electric Vgenerator ll mounted on the top of the *frame- :workand havingavbeveled gear I2 meshing with .a beveled gear I3 having a hollow hub ifi which hub is `,provided with'the vertical roller bearing l5 and which is also .supported by the thrust 'bearing 'I6 Aon the shaft i. The sleeve of the lgear 113 4hasa notched .plate il fixed thereto and lon vthe shaft V'l is .a clutch velement i8 having .forks |19 `to engage in the notches in the plate lll, The `clutch element I8 has a peripheral groove 29? in its hub in which the 'forked end 2| Lof va vlever 2,2 rides.

The lever .22 'is pivoted on the Ystandard 23 vmounted on the :top of the main frame and a -coiled spring :2A tends to move the lever on its Ipivot to .thereby move the forked arms down- Wardly into .the slots provided therefor in the member l1 whereby .the wind wheels may rotate .the shaft 'l .and drive thegear l2 of the generator. The notched member rl-'l is fixed to the hub of the gear I3 and by pulling on the cord 2.5 theoperator at the'ground line may turn the lever 22 on its pivotzand thus withdraw the forks `of ythe member it from the notched member I1 and thus disconnect the generator from operative relation with the shaft 1.

Under some .conditions the upper wind wheel .8 may 4provide sufficient power for operation of .the generator and rthus .it is desirable to disconnect the ,lower wheels 8a and 8b from operative relation with the shaft l. For this purpose I provide a notched .plate 26 on the upper end of the shaft section la, and a forked member 21 slidabie on the lower end of the shaft 1. The forked Vn'ieniber 2l has a hub formed with a slot 2t through which a pin on the shaft section 'l `projectsthus permitting limited movementof the forked member yon the shaft. The forked element v2i has a groove'in rwhich the forked end of Vthe pivotedlever 29 engages and a spring element 3i] tends to force .the yforked member 2'! into the notches of the plate 25. The notches in the plate 22e are so positioned that when the fork Y.'l lengages therein the vanes of the upper wheel 8 are out of vertical alignment with the vanes of either vof the Vother wheels as will be understood from Fig. y2. The member V2S has a 'cord 3i at- -tachedfthereto and extending to the yground surface whereby fthe operator by pulling on the cord may :disengage the V'forked member 2l from the notched plate 255 'thus leaving the upper wind nwheel rZ8 operating the generator. This is particularly serviceable under a high wind condition wherein one of the wind wheels may provide ample power for driving the generator or other apparatus not here shown.

The shaft 'la may be connected opposite its axis with other apparatus not here shown, but it is obvious that the wind wheels 8a and 8b could be operatively connected with a pumping apparatus, for instance, and thus with the clutch member 2l' disengaged from the plate 26, as shown, the upper wheel may drive the generator and the lower wheels 8a and 8b could drive other apparatus. It is also pointed out that the member I9 may be disengaged from the notched plate VI at the upper end of the shaft section 1 and with the clutch members 26 and 21 in engagement all three of the wind wheels may apply force to rotate the shaft 'la to operate mechanisrn operatively connected therewith.

The major feature of this invention resides in the positioning of the several wind wheels 8, 8a and 8b with the vanes of any one wheel out of vertical alignment with the vanes of either of the others and thus, as the wind force on one blade begins to loose its effect through revolution of the wheel, a second blade of a succeeding wheel is brought to position to receive the full force of the wind and thereafter a blade of the lower wheel is brought to position to receive the full force of the wind as the blade of the second wheel moves about the aXis. There is thus a substantially constant pressure applied to the shaft to cause a substantially constant speed of rotation thereof.

A third shaft element lb is vertically aligned with the shaft sections 'la and 'I and may be connected with apparatus, not here shown, for driving the same. The clutch member 32 is provided between the shaft sections 'la and 'lb operable by a lever 33 to engage the companion member 34 and each of the levers 22, 29 and 33 are spring actuated to cause the respective members S, 2 or 32 to assume operative relation with the companion members H, 26 and 31.

The levers may be released by the respective in fixed position by means not here shown to prevent operation of the respective clutch levers.

It is to be observed that if the clutch I8 is in engagement with its counterpart Il, the generator may be driven by the upper wind motor 8 only and by releasing the cord 3ll the generator may be driven by the three wind motors 8, 8a and Sb or the clutch member for the wind motor 8 and the wind motor 6a may be disengaged and the lower clutch member 32 engaged with its counterpart 3G so that the two wind motors 8a and 8b may be applied to rotate the shaft 'lb to operate a mechanism while the upper wind motor may continue to operate the generator. By this arrangement one of the wind motors may be generating an electric current while the other wind motors may be operating mechanisms connected with the shaft Tb.

The arrangement of wind motors and clutches described provide for a variable power output as occasion may demand or all three of the wind motors may be applied to drive the generator or to drive apparatus connected with the shaft '1b.

The arrangement of wind motors further provides a means of compensating for light or heavy wind currents as more of the Wind motors may be utilized under comparatively low wind pressure and less number of wind motors may be utilized under higher wind pressure.

The wind motor as herein described is therefore adapted for operation under varying wind pressures without relation to the direction of wind flow and provides a power apparatus that may be readily adjusted to provide the desired power output.

It is believed evident from the foregoing description that the apparatus described involves a new and serviceable arrangement of parts providing a low cost power apparatus that may be applied to operate various types of mechanisms by a suitable connection between the shafts and the mechanism and that the various features and objects of the invention are attained by the character and arrangement of parts as described.

It is further pointed out that various changes in the arrangement and relationship of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, its utility and mode of operation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is l. A wind motor comprising a framework, a vertical shaft mounted for rotation therein, a pair of wind wheels thereon in vertical alignrient, said wind wheels each having blades of sheet form substantially as shown positioned in a vertical plane, and a central vertical shaft formed of two longitudinally aligned parts, the inner edge of each blade being parallel with and spaced from the shaft, a clutch for connecting or disconnecting the shaft parts, said clutch consisting of a part Xed to one shaft part, and a companion part movable on the other shaft part alignable for cooperative relation with the said first shaft part only when the blades of one wheel are out of vertical alignment with the respective blades of the other wheel and means for connecting or disconnecting one or more of the wheels relative to the shaft thereby adapting the same for operation under low or high pressure wind currents.

2. A wind motor comprising a framework, a vertical shaft rotatably supported therein, a series of wind wheels thereon in vertical alignment, said wind wheels each having blades of sheet form substantially as shown positioned in a vertical plane, and a central vertical shaft formed of two longitudinally aligned parts, the inner edge of each blade being parallel with and spaced from the shaft, a clutch for connecting or disconnecting the shaft parts, said clutch consisting of a part fixed to one shaft part, and a companion part movable on the other shaft part alignable for cooperative relation with the said first shaft part only when the blades of one wheel are out of vertical alignment with the respective blades of the other wheel and means for connecting or disconnecting one or more of the wheels relative to the shaft thereby adapting the same for operation under high or low pressure wind currents, and apparatus actuatable by rotation of the shaft for driving the same in the performance of work.

STANLEY R. DU BRIE.

(References on following page) Number REFERENCES CITED 1,770,328

The following references are of record in the le of thls patent. 5 96 31912 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,027,501 Pearson May 28, 1912 Number 1,367,766 Bozied Feb. 8, 1921 631,431

Name Date Ttterngton .July 8, 1930 Adams J an. 9, 1923 Felt Dec. 27, 1927 Honnef June 19, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Dec. 20, 1927 

